Builder agrees to cut town homes from Lemont project

December 16, 2001|By Annemarie Mannion. Special to the Tribune.

Lemont and the company behind a development proposed for 131st Street and Bell Road have agreed to eliminate townhouses and a commercial strip from the plan and to increase the size of single-family lots to meet the village's minimum standards.

Oak Brook-based Montalbano Builders had wanted to build 124 houses, 78 town homes and a nearly 4-acre commercial area on a 68-acre site known as the Zushlag property.

The proposal was slated for a vote last month by the Cook County Board, but it was deferred. Mayor John Piazza said he met with board members to explain the village's objections, and the board again postponed discussion of the plan until January.

Piazza also met with the developer to push for increasing the minimum lot size to 12,500 square feet -- the village's minimum. "We said you have to build to Lemont's standards -- that's the bottom line," Piazza said. The site would be annexed to Lemont.

Having lots that are at least the minimum size "is a long way from the original proposal," Piazza said. "It's reducing the density by almost 50 percent."

Mark Malouf, chief operating officer for Montalbano, said his company is willing to make the changes.

"It's in the best interests of all parties if an agreement can be reached with the local municipality," he said.

The original proposal had angered the village, Lemont Township and many residents because it included lots as small as 7,000 square feet. That density, opponents said, would not be in keeping with the area, which has 3/4-acre and 1-acre lots.

One resident, Kathy Henrikson, said that while she is pleased the lot size issue is being addressed, she still wants half-acre lots. A 12,500-square-foot lot is slightly less than one-third of an acre.

"With 12,500-square-foot lots, that's three houses per acre. We have lots [in the neighborhood] that have one home per acre," she said.

She said she also wants lots a half-acre and larger in another residential subdivision Montalbano is seeking to build on a 132-acre property called the Leonas Farm at 131st Street and Parker Road.

Montalbano had proposed building 345 houses and 105 town homes there.

Piazza said the village is pushing for half-acre lots on the west side of the Leonas property, which he said is next to existing homes on 1-acre lots.

Henrikson also said she is concerned about how the proposed development on the Zushlag property would affect traffic and drainage.

"The impact would be lessened because we're cutting the units by nearly 50 percent," Piazza said.

He also said the village would negotiate a pre-annexation agreement for the Leonas Farm.